A fellow Democrat recently urged his constituents to vote "Yes" on amendment two. As usual the reasoning was certain Bible verses stating "man shall not lie with man as with woman" and pro-creation reasoning. These verses have been used by religion to put fear in mankind through history. Early on we learned it is a sure way to ask for donations to fight evil. Facts are, polls show a major majority of Floridians both straight and gay do not want same sex marriage. There are over six separate laws already on the books that prohibit such a marriage license. Now the most important change to Floridians is the next part of this amendment. This amendment goes on to state that any other unions shall be void and not recognized. This will possibly hurt hundreds of thousands of the straights and gays from all age groups. ...more

October 17, 2008

Despite a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va., has continued to use textbooks that teach hatred of everyone not of their specific brand of faith, the U.S. State Department has yet to act to close the school. Officials of the academy, which has about 1,000 students in prekindergarten through grade 12, promised to excise passages in the textbooks that disparage Jews and Christians, but according to an examination by The Washington Post for the 2006-2007 school year, though "much of the controversial material had been removed, at least one book still contained passages that extolled jihad and martyrdom, called for victory over one's enemies and said the killing of adulterers and apostates was 'justified.'" ...more

July 19, 2008